Over 320 Airbus aircraft in India have undergone software upgrades
30 Nov 2025

Indian airlines have successfully completed critical software upgrades on 323 Airbus A320 aircraft across their fleets.

The move comes in response to a safety alert issued by Airbus over possible flight control system malfunctions.

The updates were necessitated by fears that intense solar radiation could compromise data integrity, thereby ensuring the continued safety of air travel for passengers.

Airbus's warning and its implications
Safety alert

Airbus had warned that unusually high solar radiation might, in rare cases, corrupt data processed by components linked to flight controls on a large number of A320-series planes.

The aviation giant also warned that the corrective software patch might cause short-term operational disruptions across global fleets.

The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) confirmed today that the software updates had been completed on the affected aircraft.

Update on aircraft undergoing maintenance and operational status
Fleet status

Of the 338 aircraft, six were undergoing scheduled base maintenance. However, Air India later found that nine of its jets didn't need the update.

IndiGo has completed the upgrades on its entire active A320 fleet of 200 affected operational aircraft.

Meanwhile, Air India has updated software on 100 of its operational jets and is in the process of upgrading four more under maintenance.

DGCA's directive and global response
Regulatory action

The DGCA issued a formal Airworthiness Directive yesterday, directing all Indian operators to comply immediately.

This came after Airbus's global alert and an Emergency Airworthiness Directive from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

EASA had said that Airbus had asked airlines to ensure installation of a compliant Elevator Aileron Computer (ELAC), which controls various flight-control surfaces of the aircraft.